Summer is the time for chick lit!

I haven't been blogging, but I have been reading! Chick lit has been one of my favorite reading genres for quite some time now, but my favorite season to read chick lit is by far the summer! Wouldn't you agree? I do not think it is any coincidence that many modern literature authors for women release their new titles in the summer! ;)

Despite my busy June I have somehow fit in some reading time. In June I finished Laura Bush's memoir, Spoken from the Heart; Emily Giffin's newest, Heart of the Matter and What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty.

I absolutely loved them all!

By now I'm sure you're familiar with my fascination with Laura Bush (if not, you must be new -- so welcome to ALPITC!) so when I found out she was doing a book signing in Kansas City there was no doubt in my mind I would be there!

It was fantastic and my only complaint is that we did not get a very good chance to take pictures or actually meet her. I really wish she would have done some sort of receiving line like they do at regular book signings, but I understand that she's a little different.... Maybe someday! It was interesting to see the Secret Service there and try to make them laugh. They're so serious!

I didn't learn very much about Laura that I didn't already know, but it was nice to read it from her and hear her elaborate a bit more on the stories I already knew. I'm really glad she wrote this memoir and truly hope she writes another one someday. She's definitely an important role model in my life and someone I hope I can be more like!

There isn't a book by Emily Giffin that I don't love so I've been waiting for what seems like forever for Heart of the Matter to come out. I was green with envy when my good friend Lesli got an advance reader copy! :)

This book did not disappoint. It was typical Emily Giffin fashion in that it was chick lit with a very controversial plot and characters that make it hard to choose sides. Throughout the entire book I kept flip flopping between who's side I was on and how I wanted it to end. When I did get to the end I felt very satisfied and knew that the ending was right.

Another thing that came as a big (and lovely) surprise was that Rachel and Dex from Something Borrowed and Something Blue made a cameo! It was nice to hear a little about those characters and even a tid bit about Darcy! Something Borrowed has been a favorite of mine for a years now and one of the only books I have ever re-read!

I first read about What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty on Chick Lit Reviews and News, which btw is one of my favorite book blogs! The blog features many books that aren't available in the US and this book was no different... After reading the review I knew I had to read it as soon as possible, but it wasn't available in the US... so I headed over to The Book Depository where they have FREE shipping anywhere in the world and ordered it right away. It was the first time I used this website and was very pleased! I will definitely be ordering from them again. It didn't cost anymore than ordering on Amazon (probably less, actually) and only took about a week and a half to arrive.

This book is about a 39 year old woman who loses 10 years of her memory and thinks she is 29 again. She wakes up and thinks it's 1998 and she's pregnant with her first child and happily married. Actually, it is 2008 and she has three children and is going through an ugly divorce. I don't want to spoil the book, so I won't go into too many details but it really highlights how much people change in as little as a few years. It really shows how we can lose sight of what is really important in life.

It really made me think about what happens in TEN YEARS. This was a good read for me because it reminded me that I do not have to be in a hurry. Just because I am now in my late 20s (and pushing 30 as my dad likes to say) does not mean my life is anywhere near over. There is so much more to look forward to and many memories to be made!

If you're a fan of Sophie Kinsella or Jane Green I think you will love this book! I'm definitely going to check out more of Liane Moriarty's work! Her writing is right up my alley and definitely great for summer reading.

Now, I am getting ready to start Jane Green's Promise's to Keep. I have already heard wonderful things about this book and get the feeling I will be done with it very, very soon!

Have you read any good books lately? What are you reading now?

Amber, trying to be a daredevil!

Last week was busy, busy, busy! I've been meaning to write a nice long post about what I've been up to and I'm just being lazy, lazy, lazy!

We did go to Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun last week, which are two rather large amusement parks in Kansas City and I rode the ripcord! It was the scariest thing I have ever done! I still can't believe I did it!

I've been trying to upload the video to Blogger for the past few days with very little success. Then I figured, well maybe I can up load it to YouTube and then upload it to Blogger. That did the trick! So, here ya go!

That person screaming? That's me. Rachel was quiet as a mouse. Me? Screaming my head off. Oh, and my eyes were shut for most of it. I couldn't help it, I was terrified!

Looking forward...

Lisa and Amber inspired this "Looking Forward" post today. When I first read Lisa's I thought to myself how I would like to do a post like this sometime and I never stopped thinking about it! I think it's a great way to set long term and short term goals, so I may make this a regular feature here!

Today I will... go shopping for a wedding present! One of my employees is getting married tomorrow and an old co-worker (my old assistant turned super close friend) and I are headed up to her hometown to attend the wedding. The bride has been such a godsend for me and I honestly don't know what I would have done without her this past year. She's one of those people that is always calm and never lets anything frazzle her. She laughs at stressful situations and always has a positive outlook on life. Congrats, Amelia! =)

This week I will... head to Kansas City after getting back from small town Iowa. One of my close friends moved to SCOTLAND four years ago and she's making a visit back to the States for the first time! I am sooooo excited to see her and cannot believe it's been so long. I am so envious of her for having the courage to move so far away!

This month I will... get all of my requirements gathered to apply for... GRAD SCHOOL! OMG! My fingers are crossed I get in and I don't have to wait until the spring semester to start. Please say a prayer for me!

This year I will... hopefully quit my full time job and become a full time college student again. Crazy, right? ;)

What are you looking forward to today, this week, this month, and this year?

Where in the World Wednesday

Happy hump day everyone!

This week I am participating in Where in the World Wednesday hosted by one of the sweetest people in the world and one of my faaaaaavorite bloggers, Jessica from Classy in Philadelphia!

The idea of WITWW is to post a picture of you somewhere in the world that you consider traveling. It doesn't have to be foreign or tropical and can even be somewhere in your hometown.

This week I decided to share one of my pictures from my weekend at the lake! Lake Okoboji is

one of my absolute favorite places in the world and it's right here in little ol' Iowa! Who'da thunk it? There's more than corn?! ;)

Lake Okoboji is definitely party central in the summer time, but it's still family oriented as well. In fact my very first vacation that I can remember was to Lake Okoboji when I was four years old. I really wish I had a picture of that somewhere, but I'm sure it's in a box somewhere at my parents house.

This is a picture of me and one of my very best friends on the lake last summer! I do my very best to get up there (it's about 3 1/2 hours from me) as often as possible in the summer!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week! :)

We've got lots of highs, and then some lows...

Whoa... What. a. weekend. There were lots of high highs and some low lows... if ya know what I mean.

Let's start at the beginning...

Friday - Test day!

I had my test time mixed up and thought it was scheduled for 11:30, but it was actually planned for 1:30. Luckily, they let me take it early so I got in there about 12:30 and dug in. Three and half hours later (yes, I didn't leave until 4pm!) I was done and I had my test scores... I did amazing! I received scores high enough to get into the graduate program I want and then some. I'm so extremely proud of myself and so happy it's over. Now I can watch tv or read a book and not feel guilty. Do you ever feel guilty for leisurely activities when you should be studying? I felt that way in college allllll the time and I can tell it will be exactly the same (if not worse) in graduate school.

After the test I booked it home, super high on adrenaline and threw my bags together for the lake, hopped back in the car and picked up my friend to head three and half hours north to Lake Okoboji! (A little slice of heaven on Earth. No joke.)

Since we got up there so late we almost immediately headed out to the bars. It was pretty uneventful, but fun none the less. One of the guys I went out with from Match (the one in law school) is from near there and bartends at one of the most popular bars at the lake so we stopped in there and said hi. I had already let him know that I would be in town so it wasn't a surprise. :)

We closed down the bar (after drinking probably a tad too much) and headed back to the cabin to pass out.

Saturday

Saturday we all slept in. I slept til 9:45 and was in such shock I slept so late! I can never seem to sleep in when I'm up there. I don't know why. I must have been really, really tired.

The weather was really crappy and we couldn't go out on the lake, so while the guys golfed (in the rain!) the girls shopped! We shopped at one of our faaaaavorite places on the lake. Barefoot Bar. It's a bar that also sells lots of cute cover-ups, hoodies and fun little knick knacks with it's signature foot logo.

I got an adorable zip up that I can tell I will wear all the time. (I would post a pic, but it's already in the wash).

After that we headed back home, and got ready to go out. Again.

We went to the same bar that we went to the night before (that guy was working again!) and started drinkin'! We met a big group of guys that were there for a bachelor party and this is where things start to go downhill...I should have knooooown when I found out why they were out that this wasn't going to end well.

One of the guys was really into me and wouldn't let me leave the dancefloor. I didn't mind because he was cute and was a good dancer (much better than me) he kept spinning me and dipping me (he even dropped me once!) and I was having a great time. I was really into him and it seemed he was into me too. Maybe a little too much maybe? He was very touchy feely and there were several times I had to tell him to stop it. When he tried to kiss me I kind of pushed him away and said no. I was into him and wanted to kiss him, but not while drunk. I hate that. It needs to be special, ya know?

Well a couple hours later one of my friends told me she just found he is engaged and getting married in September. Nice, huh? This is exactly what I DON'T need. As soon as I found that out I hightailed it out of there and walked down to the lake to just think. My good friend followed me and we talked for awhile. I was kind of mad because I thought they had known for an hour, but I guess they found shortly before me. What is wrong with guys? I can understand dancing with a girl a couple times when you're already attached to someone, but he was doing A LOT more than dancing. I'm still disgusted when I think about it. What. A. Pig. This sounds crazy but it made me really miss Cy. I was looking forward to taking him to the lake (he had never been there) and was just all of a sudden so depressed he wasn't with us.

Sunday

We woke up to a beautiful day, so we hurried up and got our suits on and got on the boat! We spent a few hours out there and it was perfect. Boating is one of my absolute favorite things to do and Okoboji is one of the best places for it. We ate lunch at Barefoot, then just kind of floated around on the lake soaking up some sun. Some of the guys got in the water but I absolutely refused. 70 degree water is not warm enough for me to get in!

About mid-afternoon we headed back to the cabin to clean up and head home... It's always a little sad going home. Nobody wants Monday to come back after a fun little weekend vacation!

Today at work I was so exhausted. Although I got to bed at a decent time and even got over eight hours of sleep I just couldn't keep up. I feel like I cannot get enough fruits, veggies and water. I guess we're going to have incorporate some healthier eating at the lake! ;)

How was your weekend?

Crrrrazy week!

I know I said I would write essays and post them here this week... but how did it get to be Wednesday already?!

Holy moly.

This week is flying right on by and I am just not ready for it to be over yet! My test is Friday and instead of getting more anxious I am feeling calmer and calmer. (Yay, right?? Ha!) I know I will do fine.

I'm obviously planning a nice big study sesh for tomorrow night so maybe I will get a couple essays up here for you all then! ;)

Hope everyone is having a great week!